Forever lost, newly found
by Alfred's Elevator
Summary: Rose and Hand-Man have finally grown their own TARDIS from the coral Donna and the Tenth Doctor gave them. The ship is stubborn, rejecting him because he is part human. When the Doctor tries to scan a hair left on one of Rose's shirts the young TARDIS forces a dead being back into existence to fill the role of Time Lord, and Rose is confronted with a friend she thought was lost.
1. Chapter I

**A/N: Hello! To those of you following me: I'm sorry that I haven't done ANYTHING in the past couple months. I've been absorbed by the Whovian fandom and this is what has come out of it. I'll let you know that this fic has: *River Song voice* "Spoilers" through the episode of "Journey's end". It will feature the Ninth Doctor, Rose Tyler, and the Metacrisis tenth Doctor, known to me as "Hand-Man". This is the first attempt at a Doctor Who fanfiction that I have posted online, and is a practise run, in a way. PLEASE review with constructive criticism, as I have a difficult time writing for the Doctor and need to know how to get him in character. I'm also experimenting with feelings and a bit of romance, so I would love to know how I do, and how I can improve. One last thing, I'm an American, so I will be using American English and am not very familiar with British slang, so please forgive the lack of it. Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoy.**

******Edit 10/19: Second chapter has been sent to my beta and will be up soon! **

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"Rose, would you like to see something?" The human Doctor asked, gesturing to a screen. "I think she'll finally let me use the analyzer!" He was referring to the way that the newly grown TARDIS rejected the two of them. The Doctor had explained that it was probably because the ships generally shared a telepathic bond with a time lord, and the fact that the Doctor was mostly human irritated her.

The interior of the new TARDIS was beautiful. A single glass column rose from the center of the room and was filled with a dimly glowing gold liquid with lethargically moving bubble inside, giving the impression of a large lava lamp. A donut-shaped control panel encircled the column with many levers, buttons, switches, and the like. The walls around the circular room were a brick-like texture and were a deep navy blue color. A curved orange couch took up a lot of room along the walls, and two high arches held the doors to the outside world and the expansive hallways of the new TARDIS and a deep red illuminance filled the room, as the TARDIS wouldn't allow the Doctor to change it from the angry color. The exterior of the ship was currently a port-a-potty, a sad replacement for the dark blue police box, but this TARDIS has chosen her own disguise, and the Doctor couldn't convince her to change it for the time being.

She has taken three years to grow, which was a major accomplishment as the Doctor himself has approximate it would take at least seven, and three weeks to let them inside. Two months later they had just been allowed their first trip the night before. Rose remembered the beautiful town in Italy, but had forgotten the name overnight. It was a beautiful place, but she would have prefered going there on an actual date.

To her disappointment, her and this Doctor's relationship had hardly changed at all. Since they had left Bad Wolf Bay they hadn't shared a single kiss and she continued to be his best friend, one of his only friends, but always wondered if the words "I love you" whispered into her ear on the bay were true, or if all he was looking for was a good friend. Not that that wasn't enough. She had jumped through dimensions countless times in her search for him when all they had shared before was friendship. She loved him with all her heart, but she would never push him to do something he was uncomfortable with. It was amazing to be with him, the Doctor, and never did she think a second of her time with him was wasted. His brilliant mind, exuberant movements, and adorable ignorance about common life were an amazing thing to be around, but still she wished slightly for something more.

She made her way over to him from the couch and smiled. She watched him fiddle around with the screen and controls until, with an oddly protestive-sounding noise from the engine, a small panel opened, revealing a flat scanner inside of the control console. "HA!" the Doctor cheered and quickly turned on Rose. His eyes went to her shirt. A smile graced his lips as he teased her "excited to go back to the World War Two Blitz?" He asked, remembering the last time he had seen her in that shirt. The night he first had danced with her, and when he experienced the first moment of pure joy since after the Time War. "Just this once, Rose, Everybody lives!" Then afterwards, holding her hand and showing off his dancing skills to her. Enjoying the moment, seeing her smile brilliantly, Jack's humbled look when faced with his dancing skills, happiness.

"Never again." she replied with a small smile. "So, Doctor, what does this thing do, exactly?" she said, indicating to the analyzer.

"Weeell," he drew out the "eh" sound. "I'll show you!" He pulled a grin and searched her shirt for a second before plucking a single hair from it. It was short and dark. "What do you reckon? A cat? A dog? What about a rabbit or hedgehog?"

She giggled "Why would I have hedgehog fur on my shirt, silly?"

His words came faster as his excitement grew. "Oh, I don't know. Thought i'd ask, no harm in that. Now, to test it out!" He grinned and sealed the hair in the panel. "One," he flipped a switch. "Two," he started typing something in to a keyboard. A pause. "Three!" He hit a single key.

immediately the screen started to show a moving circular text that Rose couldn't read. She knew it was Gallifreyan. The Doctor read the screen for a few seconds before his mouth fell open in surprise. Immediately he started typing furiously. "How in the world would Rose have gotten that on her shirt? Nononononononono, this is wrong! What? You can't be telling me that!" he scolded the screen.

"Doctor, what's happening?" Rose asked, hoping for, but not expecting a straight answer.

His hands flew to his hair in frustration. "How could this-" he was cut off as the ship gave a tremendous shudder. Rose automatically grabbed on to the nearest thing she could to stablize herself, the Doctor. He spread his feet to try and retain his balence, but after a few more jerks he was floored, Rose beside him on the ground. They held one another through the worst tremor yet, and then the TARDIS stilled. Immidiately the Doctor pushed himself to his feet and went back to the screen, typing again. This time, Rose saw a colorless 3d model of a man on the screen, but didn't examine it further, as the Doctor has dashed away from it and produced a white bedsheet from somewhere.

"Stay here, Rose! he commanded, running with the sheet towards the door to the inner rooms of the TARDIS. "Don't leave the room!"

"Bu-"

"Stay put, I mean it!"

instantly insulted at being treated like a child, Rose immediately made to follow him, but came to a halt at the door. He had shut it behind him and she wasn't sure how to open it. She quickly spotted a couple controls near the side of the door and started pushing buttons. A toaster fell to the floor behind her, and some really weird music started to play before the door slid open and she dashed through, following the sound of the Doctor's footsteps.

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**A/N: Hope you enjoyed, please remember to review about anything you noticed that I did wrong. Thank you!**

**Edit 10/19: Second chapter has been sent to my Beta and will be up soon! **


	2. Chapter II

A/N: Hey, Peeps! Chapter two is up now! Well, if my lovely beta and dear friend RoseBudInk has already had a good look over this that is. Thank you so much, dear. Also, thank you to those who favorited:

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Reviewed

Ancient Arbiter, RoseBudInk, Magali, DoctorLia, and anonymous Guest!

This has quickly become my most popular story and I've been on here for a few years now, thanks for the support! I had a near-stroke-experience when I saw all the follows XD

Anyways, this chapter is longer than the last by a significant amount. I'm sorry it was so delayed, but i'm trying to give quality work rather than rushed rambling. The other chapters, I'm not sure how many, might take longer to update until I get a good outline going. Hope you all enjoy it. One more thing, I'm not even going to attempt to write the accents of the characters...

Before I forget again: Shame on any person who thought I owned Doctor Who, because I don't. If I had /anything/ to do with the show then I would have been on my hands and knees begging Christopher to stay another season as least. Threatening may have followed… This was written for fun, not for profit. No, not for fun. It was written as my sad attempt at a tribute to Nine and as a way to vent my sadness that he regenerated.

Boom. Disclaimer status: Aced.

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Rose ran down the hall and caught up with the Doctor in the doorway of a room she didn't recognize, grabing his arm. He gave her a tight smile, fond of her sense of loyalty and bravery, but quickly focused back on the dim room that was only lit by the red light seeping in from the hallway. The white sheet he had brought was in his right hand, and his left found Rose's right and gripped it. "You might want to close your eyes." He cautioned.

"Why?"

"Ehhh…" He made a face between embarrassment and distaste. "Just trust me. You'll want to close 'em, at least for a bit." She did. "Come on, then."

The Doctor gripped her hand and carefully led her into the room. She could tell he turned on a light as a dull glow filtered through her closed eyelids. The Doctor made a quiet noise of surprise, and his grip tightened for a fraction of a second. Then he led her forward again.

After a few steps he released her hand. Rose heard something shift on the floor as the Doctor placed the sheet over it.. "163.8 BPM, unconscious, choppy breathing… Alive. What? How?" The Doctor spoke to himself in a hushed tone.

"Aren't most things that breathe alive, Doctor?"

"Not this thing, Rose. This 'thing' should have ceased existing years ago."

"What is it?"

The Doctor ignored her question. All Rose could hear was him removing something from his pocket and then the buzzing of the sonic screwdriver the Doctor had built a while back. There was a groan and Rose heard more shifting from the unidentified sheet-wearer. "Oh, you're fine." he said in response to the unhappy noise. There was a soft thud and more shifting.

"What's going on?" said a deepish voice in a northern accent, one that Rose recognized instantly. Her eyes flew open and quickly took in the scene in the red-lit room.

She gasped "Doctor!" It was the previous regeneration of the Doctor that she had first met. The one who saved her from the living plastic, Daleks, and Slitheen.

"Rose, keep calm. I think the hair I pulled from your shirt was mine. Not /mine/ mine, but his mine. Well, you know what I mean." The human Doctor explained as Rose stared wide-eyed at the body she hadn't seen in years.

The ninth Doctor was sitting up on the floor, sheet over his lower half, squinting at the human Doctor. "I can't… Rose…" he mumbled.

She knelt by him and carefully grabbed his hand "Doctor, I'm here. So are...you." She whispered, still shocked beyond comprehension. His eyes slid closed and he frowned.

"I can't see. Rose, where am I?" he looked worried.

"In a TARDIS. Not yours, but it's one we grew from a coral." she replied, speaking a bit fast. "We were sort of trapped in another dimension and the other Doctor left us here-"

"Other Doctor? The one I… Wait, how am I here? Rose, what's going on?" he said in a tone that was almost a demand. "I regenerated. I'm gone, turned into someone not quite me." He frowned. "But I'm here." He seemed disoriented,

"Yep, alive as anything. I checked. You were materialized here by this TARDIS who used your DNA to reconstruct a physical body for you. I'm not sure where she pulled your consciousness from." The human Doctor supplied, sounding puzzled. His predecessor opened his eyes and blinked as his vision came into focus. He smiled at Rose and then examined the man leaning against the doorframe of the room.

"Fantastic…" he muttered sarcastically. The Human Doctor rolled his eyes and Rose gave the other a questioning look. "I've gone all… pretty."

"Yeah." Rose confirmed, breathless with delight. "Yeah you have, but you're back!" He pulled a slightly offended look at her. "What?"

"You weren't supposed to agree. You were supposed to say that there was no way I could have ever gotten more handsome and that you missed me and how you thought I was better than the new me." He teased.

"You're turning me against yourself? You think you're the center of the universe, don't you?" She said, miraculously keeping a straight face.

"I don't think it, I know I am!" They stared defiantly at each other for a few seconds before both cracking up.

"Weeeeell," The Human Doctor interrupted with an unreadable look on his face. "we should get back to the control room, I want to run some tests" he came over and offered Rose his hand. She took it and stood.

"And I'd like some clothes, if it's not to much of a pain. Sheet's a bit drafty." The Ninth Doctor requested with a shrug, getting shakily to his feet and wrapping said fabric bed-covering more securely around his waist.

"Are you ok?" his companion asked, concerned.

"It's not really /that/ cold, I was trying to avoid-"

"Not about the sheet, git. You're swaying on your feet!" Rose immediately rushed to grab his arm and steady him.

He frowned. "Oh, yeah. Just a bit dizzy. I'm fine, Rose, spectacular. You don't need to hold me..."

"If you fall over we might have to carry you." She protested, even though that wasn't the reason she wanted to help. Disbelief still plagued her and the contact reassured her that he wouldn't disappear again.

They made their way to a small living room-like space near the control room. It, while still a bit forbidding under the red light, was comfortable. It had two couches set in a corner and a table in front of them. The Human Doctor stayed long enough to make sure his previous self didn't fall over and then went to fiddle with the main TARDIS controls. Rose sat down on one of the couches while the Doctor took the other. His eyes reflected the light, making them appear red and the shadows cast on his stern-looking face looked eerie. Rose noticed and started to giggle.

Confused, he looked down at himself and back to her. "What?"

"You look like a villain in some cartoon, just without the cape or whatever."

"Why does this TARDIS have a red light system? It's not my fault! And I don't look like a villain."

"The other Doctor can't get her to change the lights." She chose to not rebuke his statement.

"I doubt anyone could." The human Doctor defended flatly, entering the room and taking a seat next to Rose. "I can't get her to get clothes either. I'll need to go get you some clothes at the actual store."

"You?" Both other people asked.

"Yeah. I remember the sizes and everything better. Rose, you don't and he's in a sheet. ANy objections?"

"I could start a fashion statement and bring togas back." The ninth Doctor grinned widely. "And by the time everyone else has gone off and got them, I'll be the only one not dressed like an idiot."

Rose laughed "Why would everyone wear a toga? Wouldn't they just laugh at you?"

"Humans are sheep. Monkey see monkey do, isn't that the saying? All you apes will see it and think that's what they're supposed to dress like."

The Human Doctor shook his head."They'll think you're a street performer or just mad. I'll be going. What would you like? Still want the same old jumper/dark trousers ensemble?"

"Better than the new geeky businessman-with-converse getup."

"What about something new? You'd look sharp in a tuxedo, I bet." Rose suggested.

"Rose, the day I wear a tuxedo is the day I marry Jackie Tyler." Ninth Doctor said flatly.

"She's not a fan of them, that /would/ be an unwise choice in clothing." The human Doctor commented distractedly, looking curiously at the ceiling and remembering with terror the time he'd worn one to one of the parties hosted in the extravagant Tyler manor. He squinted at something for a second and continued in an offhand tone. "The light bulbs are white, not red. She's messing with our heads, making us see the light as red. Should've known."

"If she dislikes everyone then why would she bring me here?" The other Doctor asked, leaning back into the back of the couch with his arms folded.

"Because you're a Time Lord."

This took a second to sink in. "And you're not?" The ninth questioned. "Have you turned yourself ape and lost the fob watch?" disbelief was evident on his face.

"I," the Human Doctor emphasized "have got shopping to do. Kitchen was down the hall, third left last time I checked. In case you're feeling peckish. 'Course I can't guarantee there won't be a shark tank there now, the Mistress likes moving things around. We can find a way to fix things when I get back."

He was out the door before Rose could even ask if they could even fix the TARDIS problem. Or why he would have a shark tank in the TARDIS.

"If there is one, the ship made it." The Doctor informed her as if he had read her mind. "How about you show me the controls and I'll see if I can't convince her to let me get a non-tinted look at the new world? I'm a bit behind the date, seem to have been dormant the last few years…"

"Would you like me to get you some of his-the other Doctor's-clothes for you?"

He gave her a weird look "What for?"

"In case it's a bit cold."

"I'm more sturdily built than him, if you didn't notice."

she smiled knowingly"You mean fatter?"

"Oi! I said what I meant." he looked scandalized " He's a twig, I could blow him over with a sigh! I actually have a bit of muscle holding me up," he said smugly. "At least he's smarter than Rickey. You've raised your standards."

At first Rose wanted to retort angrily, but she shook her head. He always used to tease her about boyfriends she'd had and called just about every male she looked at stupid. She instead corrected him "Oh. No, we're not… like that." That bit of information seemed to interest him, but he let it be without questioning, noticing her distracted look.

"Show me the controls and catch me up, I could use it. Will she at least give us some chips?"

"Not likely."

They made their way to the controls and the Doctor started to mess with the many buttons, dials, and levers. Rose sat on the couch and watched with amusement as he walked around with the sheet on his waist. He had looked so vulnerable and bare without the leather jacket the /one/ time she had seen him take it off when they were in the church after she saved her father. He had removed it to hold a burning key with. But that was years ago, and seeing him like this was just weird.

At his prompting she filled him in on the last few years. She told him briefly about his tenth regenerations and her up until the first time she'd been left on Bad Wolf Bay, and then explained in more detail about Pete's World, working with the dimension-jumping technology at Torchwood, and then what had happened when she found her way back to her own dimension and helped defeat Davros, blushing at his veiled praise of her bravery. Luckily the red light hid it. Next she explained as best she could about the Metacrisis and being left in Pete's world. She didn't understand much of it, but he nodded like he did. Finally, she told him about her family in Pete's world, especially about Tony.

"You have to meet him sometime, he's absolutely adorable. He'll love you," she said with a sweet smile "Course he loves everyone."

He fixed her with a piercing stare. "You know I don't do domestic." he scolded.

She frowned "Mum would be pleased to see you, and Tony /would/ adore you."

"Jackie slapped me, she never liked me. No."

"From what you told me she hit on you the first time you met."

He folded his arms over his bare chest, observing the controls with a little scowl. "Hardly would've said I had 'met' her. And i've told you before: I. Do. Not. Do. Domestic."

Rose sighed. Was he so stubborn before!? "Not even for Christmas? That'll give you a month to decide."

"Yes!"

His sudden exclamation was unexpected. "You will?"

"No, I found the light switch." he grinned and pressed a few buttons, suddenly making the red light turned to bright white. "Just needed a bit of convincing and a masters in jiggery pokery!"

"Still using those technical terms?" she laughed.

Rose was glad that they had slipped so quickly back into friendship, even with her years without him. There wasn't any awkwardness unless they were discussing domestic things or the other Doctor.

"She gave you chips." she said as the Doctor pulled up a chair, placing two plates of food on the table while she took a seat opposite him. "Looks like he won't need to fix things, you've got it covered."

"Hm" He didn't say anything for a minute, only ate a little bit of food. "He meant me." He finally said.

"What?"

"I'm the things that need to be fixed. I shouldn't be here, I regenerated." He looked into her eyes, icy blue boring into soft brown, and watched for her reaction. "I'm here by some mistake. Mistakes need to be fixed if at all possible."

A feeling of dread started to creep up her spine and Rose nearly gave into it and shivered when a grin suddenly replaced his thoughtful frown.

"Nah, we don't have to worry about that now. Enjoy your chips." He held her eyes though. "Rose, I am glad to see you again." he said in a more serious tone. "For whatever reason I have this much more time with you. I… When I regenerated my mind, this mind, became separate. It's like a computer. Time Lords are funny, they work like computers. You have the read only memory, memory that can't be changed. It's like the time lord DNA: two hearts, time sense, the telepathy, regeneration. Cannot be changed. Time Lords can hide it, chose to override it temporarily, but only under dire circumstances.

"After the ROM boots up it hands things over to the hard drive, which has the operating system. It has the collective memory of the files stored on the computer. That's like my memories and knowledge, passed on through regenerations and always there. It can be deleted, but it was rarely ever done.

"Then there are individual profiles. Small, personalized groups of information stored on the harddrive and hidden to the other profiles. I have one, the next Doctor, the one I regenerated into, has one. The profile has the looks, personality, style, feelings, of each regeneration. I was a profile on the Doctor computer, then I got erased. My experience was still there on the harddrive, memories and all that I had learned, but a new profile took over. Mine should have been erased but somehow it was saved somewhere else and this TARDIS was able to restore it. It was weird, Rose. Being saved somewhere but not in use. I still had a form of consciousness; I was aware that I wasn't anywhere. I couldn't see, hear, touch, or smell. All I could do was remember and think. I remembered the last thing I ever saw. It was beautiful, clever, kind, and more of a healer than I could ever be, Doctor or not. I'm not sure what else would be worth thinking of if you were a ghost left behind for eternity, but I had… a good time remembering."

"Doctor, are you ok?"

"Rose Tyler, I am absolutely fantastic." He grinned. She smiled as well, just noticing how much she had really missed that grin. Memories played with her head and one specifically came to mind. The trip to Woman Wept where they had walked out onto a frozen ocean at midnight. The Doctor's eyes had been shining with excitement, pale and almost colorless in the light of the moon, as he grabbed her hesitant hand and led her out onto the solid ice. She had dreams about the planet afterwards, but could never remember the Doctor's role in them.

"Ah-ha! Here, someone take some of these or my arm is going to fall off and turn into another me. Wait, that would be brilliant, I could do with about ten of me around! Save a lot of work and have someone else to be clever with!" Rose was jolted out of her memories as the Human Doctor returned, carrying a large shoebox, something on a hanger covered in opaque plastic to protect it, and several bags on each arm. She hopped up and ran into the console room, taking the shoebox and a pair of bags. "Everything should fit, and look, I even got one of those jackets I wore when I was him." He said, indicating the plastic-covered item with a jerk of his head.

The Ninth Doctor came into the room. "Thanks." he muttered and looked curiously into some of the bags. He nodded approvingly and took four of the bags and the shoebox with him deeper into the TARDIS to change.

"All right, Rose?" The remaining Doctor asked, leaning on the control console and smiling.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm great." She assured, smiling back. "It's really him, yeah?"

"Oh yeah, absolutely. Weeeell, the actual physical molecules have been changed, probably elements dragged in from this dimension, but the physical body is an exact replica and I have no reason to believe the mind is not the original. Everything checks out and he's more a Time Lord than I am…" Rose grabbed his hand sympathetically, knowing that he was still getting used to the idea of being human. He had tried staying up for a week straight a month after they were left in Pete's World just to prove he still didn't need sleep, because Time Lords didn't, and ended up falling asleep early on the fourth day. He smiled sincerely at her in a silent thank you.

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A/N: Yay, finally finished! Just under 3,050 words excluding the author's notes. WOW. O_O

It's one in the morning so I don't have much to say to you all right now ^^;

Coming up next: A possession fight, a bit of that charming Donna personality and Nine sass! Yaay! :D

**Anyways, please review with constructive criticism, I want it to help improve my writing, but any review, follow, or favorite will be cherished. And I have a question to ask, answer in a review or PM me, I'm curious to know what my readers like. Who is your favorite out of the three new Doctors? I would love the whole list of reasons why and will totally have a conversation if you'd like. I'll tell you briefly my favorite order and why in the next chapter. Thank you!**


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